This weekend marked another installment of my foray into the seedy world of competitive cross stitch. Yes, there is such a thing. All over the country local needlework guilds hold annual shows, which are usually then juried. I won a blue ribbon in the first one I entered, several years ago while living in Scottsdale. Buoyed by my blue ribbon finish, I entered 3 more pieces in the following show. That one was far less successful. The pieces that should have been judged highly weren’t, and the ones that shouldn’t have been, were. One judge commented that she gave me a blue ribbon for using a technique that I clearly did not use on the work. I’ll admit that did sour me on the whole scene for a while, but when Boomer and Kate the Great suggested we all enter the Loudon Sampler Guild show outside DC this past week, I thought, “Eh, what the hell!”

We each entered two works, and having had a lot of time and experience to gauge our abilities against other quality needleworkers, we were fairly confident that we’d see blue ribbons all around. (Since none of us do any design work ourselves, there were no delusions of winning Best in Show.) Turns out, though, our confidence was apparently misplaced. Out of the 6 pieces, only one got a blue ribbon! Boomer and I each got reds on one piece and nothing, not even a green honorable mention, on the others! Horrors!

That ginormous ribbon hanging off it is the award for winning “People’s Choice”, an honor that almost makes up for the other disappointments of the day. “People’s Choice” is determined by votes submitted by everyone who comes to the show. (Boomer missed winning this honor in the Phoenix show by one vote. When she found out that all three of her daughters voted for other pieces, feeling it wasn’t fair to vote for a family member, she gasped, “Snakes in the nest!”) This photo does not do this piece justice. KtG has set a new standard for our own family-wide (and constant) competition to make the most beautiful project. Grrr… I mean, I’m so happy for her!

Boomer submitted this Quaker sampler:

It received a red ribbon, which would be acceptable if her other piece, “Sanctuary” (designed by The Drawn Thread and not pictured here), had received the blue ribbon it deserved.

As for me, I entered “The Oak Tree” (designed by The Sampler Company):

This is the piece that one a blue ribbon in Phoenix. The notable thing about it is that it’s a miniature version of the design. There are two ways to stitch, “over two” or “over one”. In “over two” each leg of the cross stitch goes up and over two threads in the woven linen; it follows that “over one” means each cross is up and over one, making the piece into a miniature. Over one stitching is far, far more difficult. This detail shows how teensy tiny the stitches are.

Someone entered the same design at Loudon, but stitched over two. It won a blue, and mine won a red. Harrumph! Something was definitely wrong with the judges. Kate the Great suggested some crack was imbibed. I’m inclined to agree.

The second piece I entered, which went home empty handed, was “The Willow Tree” (I can’t remember the designer, sorry):

The original design had a verse that basically listed the names and birth years of the stitchers family members. I junked that in favor of a verse I had seen on a sampler in the Victoria and Albert sampler collection:

Return the kindnesses that you receive
As far as your ability gives leave
There is nothing more unmannerly or rude
Than that vile temper of ingratitude

The willow trees and yellow flowers called for some more “over one” stitching, as well as some free-hand stitching, which was a bit of a new challenge for me. But I was very pleased with how it turned out. As I groused after hearing the report of the lack of ribbons, “I don’t regret the time I spent working on them!” Sigh. Next show, mark my words, next show…

My spirits were bucked up a bit when, on Saturday night, I put the last stitch in on “The Rose Garden” (designed by Threads of Gold):

It’s been so long since I started it, I can’t remember how long it’s taken me. I absolutely adore the design of this reproduction (the original is from 1851, I believe). The rose bramble border seems really unique to me, and it contains a variation on my favorite sampler verse. In this case it reads (misspellings were retained from the original):

This work perhaps my friends may have
When I am in my silent grave
And which when ere they chance to see
May kind remembrance picture me

While on the glowing canvass stands
The labour of my youthful hands
Few other cares than this I knew
But perseverance brought me through

What made me happiest about this project, though, was the back. Boomer once attended a stitching class given by the Embroider’s Guild of America. The instructor was a bit strict, demanding each of her students — middle-aged hobbyists, one and all — do “museum quality work”. Boomer used this phrase often when teaching her daughters to stitch, and as a result, I have an unshakable obsession with the reverse of all my pieces. No one will ever see it once it’s framed, but one glance at the back of a piece of needlework will instantly tell you how good or bad the stitcher is. I knew I’d arrived as a stitcher when the snobby framer at the shop in Phoenix started looking at the backs of my pieces before she did the front. In any event, I think this might be the best back-of-a-work I’ve ever done. Here’s a comparison shot of the front and then the same spot on the back.

Front:

Back:

It might not be museum-quality work, and it might not be worthy of a blue ribbon, but when the day is done, I’m proud of my work, and proud of Boomer’s and proud of Kate the Great’s (even if she won a People’s Choice before I did).

First off, I should note here that Boomer actually did get a third-place green ribbon for Sanctuary. I kept saying she’d won nothing for it, and she had to correct me several times…let this be proof, Boomer, that I’m trying to set the record straight, after first getting it wrong in my report to Pookie from the show….!

Also, be it noted that despite my insidious rumor-mongering about whether (or not) Boomer had won two ribbons in this show, rather than one, I was not a Snake in the Nest at the show where she missed her own People’s Choice…I wasn’t there at all to have cast a vote, which perhaps is where I fell down in my duty that day….

But finally, let me say here for all who may read that Pookie is an AMAZING stitcher. Hers (well, okay, and Boomer’s) are the standard I strive to meet in my stitching. The fact that my piece was exceptionally well designed in the first place, was prominently displayed at the Loudon show, and had been excellently finished by the ladies at the Wild Hare framing shop likely did as much or more to elicit the People’s Choice votes as my own stitching did.

So, hats off to Pookie, Boomer, and all the other contributors to this weekend’s show. There were votes for 41 separate peices of 105 at the show for People’s Choice, so the field was obviously strong. Even if Pookie’s pieces (and my own second entry) may have been deserving of higher praise than received, I think we were in excellent company. :)

Wow. I think my stitching is… um… nowhere near entering competitions, let alone museum-quality. I do keep in mind the back of my piece. My mom did some pettipoint (sp?) on sheer cloth and instilled in me to not have floss going willy-nilly. You have set the bar high, my friends.

Like the dork I am, I proudly carry my stitching around in a bag that has clear pockets for all my floss and compartment for needles and scissors. Best part? It has cats on it. :D

Like the dork I am, I proudly carry my stitching around in a bag that has clear pockets for all my floss and compartment for needles and scissors. Best part? It has cats on it. :D

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Pettipoint on sheer cloth? Wow! I love the look of pettipoint.

Boomer did a piece on teensy tiny silk gauze ages ago (before I was born!) that she entered in the LA County Fair and won Best in Show. It’s a piece we call “The Ducks” and it’s been the standard of excellence for us all. I should post a picture of it. It’s nuts!

You must post “The Ducks.” I would like to see it. Or you can just email me. When I’m home, I’ll take pictures of my mom’s work. She did some wildlife ones for my dad as gifts. They are really neat. And I’ll take a picture of my very first cross-stitch EVER.

I’ll try to post “the Ducks” this weekend or next week. I don’t have my first ever project, but I do have the first one I did on linen with silk. Maybe I’ll put that one up, too. It’s a sentimental favorite, and I love the verse on it!

I’m still working on my tiny cross-stitch project that I bought at Wal-Mart. It’s a kitty on the front and absolute crap on the back. I’ve enjoyed cross-stitching but I really do need to attend a class before I venture off to the good stuff. The back of your rose project is stunning. Well done, ladies!!

I like the pictures.I also like to cross stitching a lot.Iam trying to make a very big family tree in cross stitching.The family has about 105 people in it.It will have wedding days,an flowers for the border,but no birthdays.I need a picture for a ideas of how it might look like.I study the pictures.Please write me back.Thank you.

I like doing cross stitching a lot.Iam trying to make a family tree.The family has about 105 people in it.I need a very big picture of a family tree,but with out the names.I just need and idear of what it might look like.Do you know anybody that has make one?I made a small one that has 4 people in it.But it is not in a tree.Please write me back.Thank you.